Re-indexing punching unit



Jan. 12, 1965 R. L. GRAVELEY, JR 3,165,019

RE-INDEXING PUNCHING UNIT Filed Aug. 30, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG./

IN V EN TOR. ROBERT L. GRAVEL EYJR.

Jan. 12, 1965 R. GRAVELEY, JR 3,165,019

RE-INDEXING PUNCHING UNIT Filed Aug. 30, 1962. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT L. GRAvELEyJ/e F F I G. 4

ATTORNEY United States Patent i 3,165,019 RE-INDEXING PUNEHING UNIT Robert L. Graveley, Ira, Silver Lake, Shin, assignor to Alside, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 3 3, 1962, Ser. No. 220,465 9 Claims. (El. 833tl9) This invention relates to the art of punching a hole pattern in moving strip stock and in particular has reference to an improved type of punching apparatus that automatically locates the holes at a predetermined distance from a reference point on the moving strip stock.

In this regard, the hole pattern in question can be located from the cutolf point in continuous roll forming operations to obtain the predetermined distance between the hole pattern and the cut edge. Alternatively, in continuous roll forming operations, the hole pattern can be repetitively punched following attainment of a predetermined linear travel of the strip, whereupon the hole pattern can be used to locate the strip in a cut off die. In the case of precut lengths of strip material moving on a conveyor for example, the contact between the leading edge of the strip material and a triggering mechanism of the punching apparatus serves to effectuate location of the hole pattern with reference to the fixed point.

Using the art of continuous roll forming for the purpose of generally illustrating the purpose of the invention, it has long been known that a roll of metal, for example, can be fed into roll forming equipment of this type and can be progressively advanced by forming dies into a varying number of cross sections.

Equipment of this nature has a particular utility in connection with the manufacture of aluminum siding, with this equipment lending itself to forming the siding to the proper cross sectional contour and with the equipment also including cut olf mechanisms that sever the thus formed stock into preselected lengths, as required by the user.

It is well known in connection with this art that a re petitive hole or other punched pattern can be continuously provided on the thus formed material by the use of punch dies that are normally in the form of rollers that frictionally engage the opposed faces of the advancing stock material and that are provided with peripheral punch elements that serve to punch openings in the advanced material as required by the needs of the user.

For the purposes of illustration, in the manufacture of aluminum siding, for example, siding may be cut into lengths of approximately 12 feet with nailing holes that can be repetitively and continuously punched adjacent one edge at desired intervals of four inches, for example, with the prior art being well developed in connection with equipment of this kind. .Vnile equipment of the type above described is satisfactory for such purposes, it has been discovered that there is a growing need for estab lishing a correlation between the point of cut off and the point at which such repetitive pattern is commenced.

Stated otherwise, it is often desired to produce a finished product of a fixed length that has its first hole, or other punched area located at an exact predetermined distance from the cut off end. In use of the prior art equipment, attainment of this desired result is not possible.

It has been discovered that the above result can be achieved by providing a linkage connection between the cut olf and punching elements, with the linkage connection serving to normally inactivate the punching element during the cut off operation, with re-indexing or resetting of the punching means occurring during inactivation so that when the cut oif means moves through its return stroke, the punching die will re-engage the advancing stock from a preset position with the result that the first 3,l@5,@l9 Patented Jan. 12,1965

ice

punch will be located at a, predetermined distance from the cut off edge.

It has been further found that the range of available spacings can be expanded by adjustment or" such linkage so as to provide a lost motion effect, for example. Also, it has been found that if the linkage mechanism is provided with interchangeable components, that the inventive concept will be utilizeable with a varying number of punch dies having their varied punch elements arranged to produce different hole patterns. a

Production of an improved re-indexing punching unit having the above advantages accordingly becomes the principal object of this invention, with other objectives thereof becoming more apparent upon a reading of the following brief specification, considered and interpreted in the light of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the re-indexing punching unit associated with roll forming equipment.

FIGURE 2 is a partial elevational view showing the position of the component parts of FIGURE 1 during the period that the cutoff operation is occurring.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section taken on the lines 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are schematic perspective views of modified forms of the invention showing the position of the component parts in full and chain dotted lines.

FIGURE 8 is an elevational View of a still further modified cam.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIGURE 1, the re-indexing punching unit, generally des ignated by the numeral 10, is in general, operatively interconnected with the cut off means 11 and the punching means 12 of continuous roll forming equipment so as to provide a predetermined hole pattern that commences at a preselected distance from the point of cut off achieved by operation of the cut off means 11.

Accordingly, and again referring to FIGURE 1, it will be first noted that the cut off means 11 includes a fixed base 20 that normally includes a die knife recess 21 within which the vertically reciprocal cutting knife 23 may be received following cutoff, with the means 11 being of the flying cutoff type wherein the base 20 and a cutting head 24 travel with the stock during cutoff as is well known in the art. Secured to the fixed base 20 by bolts 25, 25, is a support arm 26 that projects from the fixed base member 29 for the purpose of rotatably supporting a lower punch die 27, with the punch die 27 being positioned to frictionally engage the lower face of the advancing sheet material S, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. Preferably, shims 25a, 25a space the arm 26 with respect to base 20 so as to permit adjustment of the reindexing unit upon changing of shims. The upper edge of the support arm 26 further pivotally supports aspawl member 28, with the point of pivotal support being around bolt 29. Downward pivotal movement of the pawl member 28 is restricted by stop lug 3b, with the pawl 28 normally being drawn downwardly (FIGURE 1) against the stop 30 by spring 31 that interconnects the pawl 28 and support arm 26, as clearly shown in the drawings. Also journaled around the bolt 29 is a link arm 32 that has divergent arm portions 33 and 34 that diverge from each other around the point of pivotal mounting with respect to the bolt 29. The arm section 34 rotatably supports the shaft 35 of the upper punch die 36 with shaft 35 supporting a cam 37 that may be selectively locked in place thereon by a set screw 38 (see FIGURE 3). It is apparent that other means, such as a splined or keyed arrangement between shaft and cam, could be employed in lieu of using a set screw. Punch elements 39, 39 are provided on the periphery of the punch die 36 and cooperate with the slot 27a of the lower punch die 27 to effectuate punching of the holes H, H in the advancing stock material S as is clearly shown in FIGURE 1, with it being understood that other punching elements could be used in lieu of the hole punching elements 33, 39 that are illustrated.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the cam 37 further includes opposed faces 40 and 41, with FIGURE 2 illustrating the position wherein the cam face 41 is in engagement with the stop face 28a of the pawl 23, with one punch element 39 being shown disposed in the down position with respect to the upper punch die as.

Turning nowto the detailed construction of the remaining arm 33, it will first be noted that the same is provided with an elongate slot 42 adjacent its outermost end, with this slot 42 being intended to be positioned in encircling relationship to a pin 43 that extends between projecting lugs 44, 44 of a slide block 46 (see FIGURE 4), with the slide block 46 being adapted to be vertically reciprocable within a housing 47 that is fixed with respect to the movable cutting head 24, as clearly shown in FIG- URES 1 and 4 of the drawings. In this regard, a spring 48 seated against lower plate 47:; of the housing 4'7 normally urges the slide block 4 6 into engagement with the upper plate 47b of the housing 47, as clearly shown in FIGURE 1. In the preferred form of the invention, it is desired that the housing 47 be vertically adjustable with respect to the movable cutting head 24 so as to permit adjustment for different stock thicknesses and/ or operating conditions. To this end, the housing 4-7 includes vertical slots 5! 53 within which bolts 51, 51 may be respectively received with the heads of the bolts 51, 51 serving to locate the housing 47 at any one of several vertical heights on the cutting head 24, as is clearly apparent from FIG- URE 1 of the drawings.

In use or operation of the improved re-indeXing punching unit, it will first be assumed that the component parts have been assembled as shown in FIGURE 1 and further that the stock material S is advancing in the direction of the arrow 52 of FIGURE 1. At this time, both the lower female punching die 27 and the upper male punching die 36 will be rotating by virtue of their frictional contact with the opposed faces of the stock material S, and this rotation will result in holes H, H being repetitively punched in the stock material S by the punch elements 39, 39 that are provided on the upper punch die 36, with two such punch elements 39, 39 being provided in the form of the invention shown in FIGURE 1.

When the cut off means 11 is operating, it is apparent that the cut oil? head 24 will be vertically lowered so that the cutting knife 23 may sever the stock material S and be received in the die recesses 21, which preferably moves horizontally in unison with the mounting head 24 to effectuate a flying cutoff.

During the just described downward stroke of the cutting head 24, it is believed apparent that there will occur a pivoting of the link arm 32 around its point of mounting on the bolt 29, with the end of the arm 33 that is engaged by pin 43 being moved downwardly while the free or projection end of the arm 34 will move upwardly so as to cause temporary disengagement of the punch die 36, which has heretoforebeen rotating. It should also be noted that the cam 37 of the punch die 36 has also been rotating-with shaft 35 by virtue of the pawl 28 being spaced therefrom by stop member 39.

Upon movement of the divergent arm 34 upwardly, it is believed apparent that one of the cam faces 4% or 41 will engage the stop face 28a that is provided on the pawl element 28 and this will result in rotation of the punch die 35 being immediately stopped. While rotation of the punch die 36 is stopped, as just noted, it will be noted from FIGURE 2 that the abutment of the cam surface 41 with the stop face 28a also serves to position the punch elements 39 in a proper position on the periphery so that the resumption of the repetitive hole pattern can be resumed at a preselected distance from the severed edge following complete retraction of the cutting head 24 to its non-operative position.

it is to be noted that during the clockwise pivoting movement of the arm 32 that the position of FIGURE 2 will be retained until such time as the pawl 28 engages the stop 39. Following this, and upon complete movement to the position of FIGURE 1, the punch die 36 will again be free to move.

With reference to the just described engagement between cam and pawl, it will be noted that the compo nents ar contoured to prevent rotation of cam 37 in either direction following contact, with this feature preventing the cam 37 from bouncing out of position. For this purpose, the pawl engaging surface of each cam in FIGURES 1 through 8 is of sufficient length to engage an opposite side of its point of tangency with pawl 28 as shown in the drawings. Also, the pawls shown preferably include a tapering surface that serves to slow the cam 37 down prior to seating as shown in FIGURE 2.

It has been indicated that it may be desirable to produce a lost motion effect and to this end such elfect may be produced by removing the spring ad or substituting a shorter spring for the same. In this fashion, during the upward shifting of head 24 following cutoti, there will be some upward movement of the head 24 prior to the time the block as commences movement upward. This lost motion will accordingly result in further strip travel prior to punching. Similarly, a spring could be placed above block 46, with such spring being utilized either alone or in combination with spring 43 for example.

It should be noted that the above described arrangement permits a wide latitude with respect to the distance at which the first hole H is punched from the cut off end. It is obvious from the position of FIGURE 1 that an adjustment of half the circumference of the punch die 36 can be achieved by loosening the set screw and positioning the cam 37 at the appropriate angular relationship with respect to one of the punch dies 39, with-it being possible to vary the phase angle between these members between 0 and 180 degrees.

This range of adjustment can be adjusted even further by controlling the vertical position of the housing 4.7 on the movable head 2.4 and by removing the spring 48 so as to vary the point at which the clockwise movement of the arm 32 commences during retraction of the cutting head 24 and cutting knife 23.

The modified forms of the invention shown in FIG- URES 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings operate on a similar principle to that shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 but merely envision a variation in the cam and pawl members so as to illustrate how the inventive concepts can be utilized with different punch dies wherein a different number of equally spaced punches may be provided during each cycle of rotation.

Accordingly, the same numbers will be employed in connection with FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 that were previously employed, with the exception that the cam and pawl members will be renumbered in accordance with the modifications shown.

Considering first FIGURE 5, the earn as is shown as being in the form of an equilateral triangle mounted on the shaft 35 so as to have the points of bi-section of the angles of the cam so concentric with the axis of the member 35 to, accordingly, provide three cam faces 61, 61, 61, as clearly shown in FIGURE 5. The pawl 28 has a modified stop engaging face 62 that may coact with any one of the three cam faces just described. In this fashion, and by providing three punching elements 6 64, 64, at exactly 120 degrees spacing, punching will always resume at the preselected distance from the severed edge, with actuation of the re-indexing feature occurring upon operation of the cut oil means II, as has been previously described.

With reference to FIG 'RE 6, it will be noted that four punching elements 70, 7t) are spaced at 90 degrees from each other and that a square cam 7t is mounted for concentric rotation about the shaft 35, with the cam 71 having cam edges 72, 72, any one of which may be engaged against the stop engaging face 73, provided on the pawl 28, as clearly shown in FIGURE 6.

In FIGURE 7, the five pointed star cam is concentrically mounted on the shaft 35 and has the five surfaces thereof engageable against the modified stop engaging face 81 provided on the pawl 2%, as clearly shown in FIGURE 7.

By use of these modified forms of the invention, the spacing and number of punches may be varied. Accordingly, and with reference to FIGURE 5, it will be noted that the cam 6% can have its faces adjusted from 0 to 120 degrees out of phase with the punch element 64, while in FIGURE 6, the out of phase relationship just described is between 0 and 90 degrees. In FIGURE 6, the five punching elements can be adjusted from 0 to 72 degrees out of phase with respect to the cam surfaces 83, 83.

The modification of FIGURE 8 is designed for use with a roll having a single punch element and accordingly the cam 80 thereof merely includes a hub portion 81 that is receivable around shaft 35 in adjustable relationship therewith, with the cam 89 then flaring outward to define a pawl engaging edge 82 that will serve to reindex the punching element to the appropriate position following engagement thereof with the pawl 28.

It is to be noted that further modification is envisioned for example by utilizing the foregoing principle of reindexing on the bottom roll that must be complementally engaged by the dies of the upper roll. Also in instances where the job requires a hole in close proximity to cutoff, such hole can be punched by a die carried by the moving die head Additionally, and in the event no cutofi" operation was envisioned as described above, it is believed obvious that the housing 47 (FIG. 1) could be attached to the end of the piston rod of an air cylinder instead of to the cutting head as shown in FIGURE 1. Any of several known eans could then serve to actuate the piston upon the strip travelling a predetermined distance with the result that the hole patterns would be punched in the advancing strip at predetermined distances apart. Accordingly, thus the punched strip could then be located on tabs of a brake or other cutoii' machine with the result that there would again be a predetermined spacing between the hole pattern and the edge t the severed strip.

While a full and complete description of the invention has been set forth in acordance with the dictates of the patent statutes, it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific form of the invention shown herein.

Accordingly, modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A re-indexing punching unit for continuous roll forming operations of the character described, comprising; continuous roll forming equipment having cut off means for severing the advancing stock material into predetermined lengths; a punch die normally rotatably driven by said advancing stock material and having at least one peripheral punching element that punches a repetitive pattern during each cycle of rotation; and means temporarily inactivating said punching die while 6 simultaneously presetting the same to a predetermined position; said means acting in response to operation of said cutoff means, whereby said repetitive pattern will be resumed at a predetermined distance from said cutoif point.

2. The device of claim 1 further characterized by the fact that said means include a link arm operatively interconnecting said punch die with the movable component of said out oh? means, whereby said punch die is shifted into and out of punching position in response to cut off movement by said movable component.

3. The device of claim 2 further characterized by the presence of stop means that engage said punch die and stop rotation of the same in a predetermined position following shifting of said punching die out of punching posi tion in response to movement by said movable component of said cut oil means.

4. The device of claim 3 further characterized by the fact that said stop means include a pawl while said punch die includes a cam rotatable therewith, with rotation of said punch die terminating upon engagement of said cam with said pawl.

5. The device of claim 3 further characterized by the fact that said stop means engage said punch die under tension, whereby said preset position of said punch die will be retained until said punch die re-engages said stock material.

6. The device of claim 4 further characterized by the fact that pawl and cam are removably associated with said roll forming equipment whereby cam and pawl elements adapted for use with various punch dies can be interchangeably associated with said roll forming equipment.

7. The device of claim 4 further characterized by the fact that said cam has cam surfaces equal in number and radial spacing to the peripheral punching elements of said punching die, whereby engagement of any said cam surface with said pawl properly presets said punch die.

8. A re-indexing punching unit for continuous roll forming operations of the character described, comprising; continuous roll forming equipment having cut 01f means for severing the advancing stock material into predetermined lengths; a punch die normally rotatably driven by said advancing stock material and having at least one peripheral punching element that punches a repetitive pattern during each cycle of rotaio n; and means temporarily inactivating said punching die while simultaneously presetting the same to a predetermined position; said means acting in response to operation of said cutofi means, whereby said repetitive pattern will be resumed at a predetermined distance from said cut off point; said means being adjustable, whereby said predetermined distance can be varied as required.

9. In combination with continuous roll forming equipment that includes cutoff means movable through a cutting cycle and a rotatable punch die that punches a repetitive pattern during its cycle of rotation, the improvement comprising; means for repetitively initiating punching of the repetitive pattern at a preselected distance from the point of cutoff by said cutoff means in response to return movement of said cutoff means from cutting position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,340,966 McDonough May 25, 1920 2,561,231 Rose July 17, 1951 3,006,031 Friedman Oct. 31, 1961 

1. A RE-INDEXING PUNCHING UNIT FOR CONTINUOUS ROLL FORMIN OPERATIONS OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, COMPRISING; CONTINOUS ROLL FORMING EQUIPMENT HAVING CUT OFF MEANS FOR SEVERING THE ADVANCING STOCK MATERIAL INTO PREDETERMINED LENGTHS; A PUNCH DIE NORMALLY ROTATABLY DRIVEN BY SAID ADVANCING STOCK MATERIAL AND HAVING AT LEAST ONE PERIPHERAL PUNCHING ELEMENT THAT PUNCHES A REPETITIVE PATTERN DURING EACH CYCLE OF ROTATION; AND MEANS TEMPORARILY INACTIVATING SAID PUNCHING DIE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PRESETTING THE SAME TO A PREDETERMINED POSITION; SAID MEANS ACTING IN RESPONSE TO OPERATION OF SAID CUTOFF MEANS, WHEREBY SAID REPEPITIVE PATTERN WILL BE RESUMED AT A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM SAID CUTOFF POINT. 